Fake It
by Elizabeth Hellbound
Summary: Ace has grown up knowing one thing. Killing. She's watched friends, and even family be terminated. There are only five other genetically enhanced kids that have survived it into the teen years. But what happens when you can't trust your only family?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Ever watch the movies where the teenage girl has the perfect life? She has the small convertible, the small dog, a huge mansion, loving parents, unnatural blond hair, and enough money to buy out the entire world?

Well, that life is completely fairytale. Right up there with princes and princesses and happily ever after. I live in the real world and nothing is like that, not even relatively close, actually the very opposite of happily ever after.

I do have blond hair, though it's the dirty blond hair, natural, wavy, the exact kind of blond Directors overlook. My name is Ace, at least that's what I call myself. Around the lab I'm known as Experiment 13, but Ace has a better ring to it, don't you think?

I was born in the lab, not entirely sure if it was from a tube or a woman. I'm genetically enhanced, kind of like a super human. Except I'm basically the opposite of Super Girl or Batman, I was made to destroy.

When I was five I started combat training, taking it on like a pure natural. When I was six I was smarter than Di Vinci and Einstein. By the age of ten I was a killing machine. They – the scientists, trainers, the government – gave me small things to begin with, like rabbits, squirrels, sometimes wild dogs.

I was 13 when I killed my first human. He was a middle aged man, a ruined experiment who had only been kept alive for training others, like me. To all of us – the strong experiments – the man and the kind like him, ruined experiments, he was known as a Dreg.

Sometimes scientists create Dregs, sometimes they make experiments gone wrong into Dregs and sometimes they even capture dangerous criminals from the cities. Basically, being a Dreg means your life is done, you're only purpose is to die.

Killing that certain Dreg hadn't been hard, just like killing rabbits and wild dogs. Only a moment of combat was used and I walked away, the Dreg drowning in his own pool of blood behind me.

Honestly, it didn't bother me one but that I killed Dreg after Dreg, it shouldn't have. I'm now 15 and have killed over hundred of Dregs, have mastered in Physics, Algebra, Chemistry, Literature, Calculus, and at least fifteen languages – I like speaking Latin the best. I'm now fully trained in combat and can bench press 700 pounds. My bones are almost cement sold, so my punches and kicks will 'bout kill a normal human or at least break a bone.

There are hundreds of other experiments, but only five other experiments like me, genetically enhanced. We don't usually talk; I don't like most of them, a few of them are ok, mainly because we grew up together, but other than that we have nothing in common besides being mutants. There's experiment 16, Rosa, who has telekinesis and mind reading, she's a complete snot and struts around like she's Queen of the World.

Rosa has long, curly red hair, with the same crimson red eyes. Her skin is tan with freckles and she's short and curvy. She's at least a foot shorter than me. Rosa has a brother, Experiment 15, he's older, and known as Slick. He earned his name.

Slick looks kind of like Rosa, the same red hair and the same eyes, his specialty is mind control and speed – he can run up to… well that's the thing. Every time they try and time his running whatever their using breaks, timer after timer, stopwatch even some things only the government knows about. He's _really _fast He's tall, taller than me by a good three inches.

Rosa and Slick are known as the Crimson Siblings, mostly because of their hair and eyes.

Experiment 14 – the second oldest, after me – is known as Silver. Silver is interesting, he's the most interesting of us the six of us anyways. Silver never had a special talent, not like I had combat; Slick had speed and Rosa with her mind. That's what everyone thought up until his 13th birthday. I don't know if it was the threat of being set has a Dreg, or just that it had been delayed for some reason, but whatever the case, Silver could make himself invisible.

He didn't need combat training, though he took it, he could just pull a Houdini and kill the enemy. Silver was tall, strong and looked about 19, though he was only a month younger than me. He got his name from his eyes; they are like translucent silver. Like Rosa and Slick, his hair matched his eyes; Silver's hair was the same translucent silver as his eyes, with fair, pale skin.

Rosa, Slick, Silver and I are all fifteen, the two others, are younger by two years. Experiment 24, Jericho is 13. All of us are extremely smart, out of this world smart, but Jericho is evil scientist smart times ten. Jericho is blond, short, with brown eyes. He looks utterly normal, compared to the rest of us.

Experiment 25, Branter is the same age as Jericho, only younger by a few minutes. Branter is somewhat normal looking too; the only thing that stood out was his purple eyes. Branter's specialty is combat, like me.

You'd never know Branter was 13, he's 6'1 and mature looking, he and silver look the oldest out of all of us.

So there you have it, the six generically enhanced humans the government created, the only ones to survive anyways. Oh yea, there were others, but none were strong enough to stay alive long enough.

I remember the others, Jared, Chastity, Liberty, Rocco, Dine, Dawn, Ever, Eve, Starlight, Freedom, and then my own brother, Caleb.

I loved Caleb and still I think about him often. Caleb was my older brother by a year. He should have never died; he was 14 when it happened. He was tall, looked a lot like me and was very strong. Caleb's talent was illusion, mind work. He could make people see what he wanted them to see. Caleb was the very best the government had ever created, but for a single second he was so stupid. He had tried to escape.

I remember the night. I had just finished an extra session of combat with Silver. We were walking back to our rooms when I saw it, the dark figure looming near the hundred foot tall electric fence. I saw the figure jump and I heard the sirens, the bright light catch a lock of blond hair, the exact same as mine. A gunshot rang near Silver and me. I could see the goofish grin on his face as the bullet hit him.

"No!" I screamed, running, trying to catch the body as if fell back towards the ground.

"Back up 13," I heard the blood churning voice of Ari Ling, the creator and owner of Diotex. I lingered for a moment and I heard him cock his gun. "Now," he hissed. I backed up and watched Caleb hit the ground, his neck and back snapping. His eyes were closed, that goofy grin still plastered on his face.

A tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it away quickly. Ari kicked Caleb's limp body and I cringed, bumping into Silver. He looked down at me and then solemnly to Caleb. We were only thirteen but he was already 5'11.

"He knew better." Silver said, still looking disapprovingly at Caleb.

"Yea, he was the best we had." Silver nodded, agreeing. I watched Caleb's goofy grin as Ari kicked him again.

"He's dead, throw him out." Ari said, walking away, his hands behind his back.

I sit in my room, looking out the window. I see mountains framing the horizon. I imagine myself running through the fields of wild flowers, breathing in the fresh mountain air. My day dream was cut off by a knock on my door.

"Yea?"I asked coldly. I didn't like the people here, any of them, the scientists, the government officials, the help, other experiments, most of them sucked.

"Dinner," Silver's metallic voice said from outside of my door. I look up in interest, it was normally Miss Oh-My-God-Look-At-Me-Look-At-Me- Rosa, who told me about the dinner.

"What's the occasion?" I asked, not moving from my perch on the window. The door opened and no one walked in, no one stood in the doorway. "Very mature Silver," I said rolling my eyes. I could see the faint outline of him that no one else could. I walked by him, pretending he wasn't there, looked in the mirror and attacked.

Do you know how hard it is to attack someone who is invisible; hard - especially when you miss. I heard his amused laugh and something threw me against the ground, pinning me down on the carpet.

"Losing you edge, Ace?" He purred. I could see him, the faint outline at least. Thrusting my head against his, I heard the loud crack, the sound of two boulders slamming together.

His grip on my arm loosened and I rolled him over pinning him down, my knuckles white against air. "Maybe not," he huffed and he appeared, his pale, muscular arms filling in the air my hands held. He smiled his wolfish smile at me.

I heard a faint cough at the door. "Am I interrupting something?" Rosa asked, looking at Silver and I on the floor, Silver pinned under me.

"Just me beating Silver, same old, same old,"

"As if," Silver said getting up, but I slammed him back down on the floor, pinning him again. His breath went ragged and I punched him lightly.

"You were saying?" I asked raising an eyebrow. I saw him smile but I let him go, hopping up and shouldering past Rosa's tiny frame.

Branter came out of his room and headed towards the dining room. He held the door for me and we walked towards the long table where four other people were sitting. Jericho in his normal spot, Slick beside him, our mentor, David and…I stopped dead in my tracks…Ari Ling.

He smiled up at me in a friendly manner. Branter walked around me, not seeming to notice. Rosa and Silver walked in.

"Evening Ari," Rosa said cheerily. She walked past me and sat next to Slick. Ari nodded at her. Silver stood behind me, the only one who realized I had stopped. I felt his hand on my shoulder but I walked away_. Can't show weakness_, I thought, _not to him_. I didn't sit at my usual spot on the other side of Branter, but at the very end of the table, the farthest seat away from Ari. Silver didn't take his normal seat either, next to Rosa, but sat next to me.

"Four of you are ready." Ari said, looking directly at me. I heard Jericho and Branter huff, they were the youngest and they knew they were being excluded. I glared across the table at Ari. I hated him, and clearly he found it amusing, because he still wore the same amused, friendly smile he had on before. "There is word of homicides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Normally, we wouldn't bother with a few, it's natural, but there is a pattern." He stopped looking at Silver now. "All the victims have been former scientist or trainers from here, which leads us to believe it's an escaped experiment."

"There hasn't been an escaped experiment since…ever." I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You know this how?"Ari asked turning his focus back on me. I composed my face quickly, right before his eyes flickered to me. I couldn't very well tell him I read through files in my spare time, how I hacked into their servers and got every piece of information I could. "If you're inferring to hacking into our files and servers, then of course you wouldn't know. We keep things like this in a separate facility up in New York."He said, as if reading my mind.

I had the urge to blush, but I held it back, my hate was much greater than the fresh embarrassment. So what? I hacked into the server, I wasn't the only one. Silver and Branter had done it plenty of times, who do you think I learned it from? A sly smile replaced his face.

"We believe it was Experiment 54." My eyes widened a little and I stopped breathing. I could feel Silver tense next to me and I saw Rosa and Slick's shocked expressions. Silver looked at me and so did Slick.

Experiment 54 was a shape shifter. She was known as Rue. She was only five. "When did Experiment 54 escape exactly?" I asked, mentally counting down the days since I'd seen her last. I hadn't realized it'd been over five months.

"That's confidential." Ari said, smoothing out his suit.

"If you are asking us to capture and return Ru –Experiment 54, then we need to know the date of her escape, her known whereabouts and all the details. We are not going to go in swinging blind."

Ari thought about this, his face hard and emotionless. "I'm not asking anything of you," he stopped looking at Silver, Slick, Rosa and then me. "I'm commanding it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Branter was sitting on the end of my bed, looking at my duffle bag with envy. "You think you could sneak me out in that thing?" He asked, not looking away from the dull green, military bag. I laughed.

"Not a chance, sorry. I have a feeling you're 6 foot self wouldn't be able to fit in there. Even if you shrunk down, your ego would still be way too big." I looked up as I laughed and I saw him roll his eyes.

"Well fine," he huffed. "I still don't think it's fair for Jericho and I to stay behind, I mean what fun is training without you, Ace?" He asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

"Flattering, but no dice," I said, throwing more clothes into the bag, breaking his concentration – which was a good thing. Because the way he was looking at the bag made me think he was going to either start making out with it or kill it, I couldn't tell, maybe both.

"Fine, I'll just try my luck with Silver." He said, hopping of my bed. "Hey," he said as he stopped in the doorway. "If I don't see you before you leave, good luck." I smiled.

"Thanks," and he walked down the hall. I could hear him knock on Silver's door – the room next to mine. We were going to be leaving in the morning, or sometime late tonight, I wasn't sure. The rest of dinner had been a blur, basically, Ari giving us the gist.

After packing the bag with a few clothes – not having many to begin with – I packed the weapons, strictly simple stuff, pistol, riffle, knives, etc. I would be getting the bigger and better stuff later; hopefully I would get to take my Sheath Sword – my favorite and best weapon. I'll explain it later if I get the chance, but let's just say it's…_awesome. _

I threw the bag close to the door and lay on my bed, much more tired than I thought. It must have been Ari; all that hatred bottled up made me so tired.

I awoke to the sound of a familiar voice. "Ace, come on." Silver said, shaking me.

"Okay, okay, stop shaking me!" I said groggily, pushing him away. He just looked at me urgently.

"Well come on, we have to get to the armory room, then Ari needs to give us something or other." He slung my duffle bag over his shoulder and was gone down the hall. I put my tennis shoes on quickly and caught up with him in the elevator. He smiled at me. He was totally wide awake and I was totally…not.

"Stop, smiling like that," I said, running my fingers through my hair, then crossing my arms against my chest.

He chucked, "Why?" He asked quizzically.

"It's creepy." I say, looking as the glass elevator drops 13 floors fast.

"Coming from the genetically mutated girl with super strength and a deadly temper." He mumbled under his breath, a smirk on his lips.

I don't retort, too tired and not in the mood. We stumbled down the empty hall and find Rosa, Slick, David and Ari in the pure white room, the armory room, my best friend. Ok, well not really, but it's an awesome place. On the wall are thousands of weapons, all of them I know by heart.

Rosa and Slick are sitting on the white bench in the middle of the room, David – our mentor, if you forgot – leaning against a free wall, looking at Ari intently. Ari looks up as Silver and I enter, smiling at me. I just glare back. I'm not in a friendly mood. I look at Rosa and see her eyes are puffy. Instantly I want to run. Rosa is one of the toughest, nothing makes her cry. I step back and run into Silver. He touches my elbow and stands me straight.

"No weakness," he mumbles into my ear, I'm confident I'm the only one to hear him. I straighten up immediately and walk forwards and sit next to Rosa. Where she was rubbing on her forearm is red and bulging.

"Tracking device," I mutter to myself, understanding. I glare up at Ari. "A tracking device?" I asked disgusted.

"We're not stupid." He says down to me coldly.

"Could have fooled me," I muttered and I saw Rosa smile slightly, and Slick and Silver did too.

"It's your turn, Princess," Ari said, narrowing his eyes. Well, that's great. I just pissed off the man who was going to shove a metal tracking device into my arm. _Oh well, _I thought dryly. I stood up and walked towards him, not scared. I saw Silver smile and so did David, I was the brave one.

I held out my arm, my face hard, with glaring eyes. A sly smile comes on his face. Because we're genetically enhanced – or how Silver puts it so delicately: mutated – we don't feel pain like everyone else, neither does loss of blood bother us. We could go on weeks with an ounce of blood left, feeling perfectly fine. But as Ari cut open my forearm and shoved a small, metal, tracking device into my arm I nearly fainted.

He had that same sly grin on his face the entire time, as if waiting for the pain to get to me. And, honestly the pain did get to me, but I wasn't sure as hell going to let him know that. I wanted him to suffer like I did because I bottled up the pain and screamed profanities in my mind.

I saw Rosa snicker, she was probably reading my mind at the moment, and because she snickered I burst out laughing, clutching my side. It was so funny, the way Ari's face contorted quickly into disgust as he sewed up my arm. I just laughed in my creator's face and it felt good. I hated Ari and I just loved to see him snarl in disgust as I won the silent battle.

I saw next to Rosa, not even glimpsing at my arm. _Don't rub it, don't scratch it Ace, _I told myself. It itched so badly and it hurt like none other, but even the tiniest flinch towards it would give a point to Ari.

Silver went next. He didn't look at Ari, but at me, his face hard and emotionless like I had been. I was proud of Silver. He smiled at me when Ari was stitching him up, much tenderly than he had me. Clearly the hatred was mutual.

Honestly, the tracking chip wasn't very big, maybe the size of my thumb nail, but it hurt like hell for it to be planted into my skin. After Silver was done, Ari turned to all of us.

"Through the tracking chip you will be able to hear me; I will give you the directions. If you disobey me you will feel…" I fell on the floor, twitching, electricity buzzing through me. I gasped and clutched my chest. My heart hurt…is that possible? Well, it did, it hurt. I twitched again, tasting the metallic of the floor. I closed my eyes, tightening them closed, hoping the pain would go away.

The buzzing stopped and I felt drained, like everything, all my energy and power was gone. I gasped and coughed. Silver was next to me. "Ace," he said urgently leaning down. I rasped, trying to speak but stopped quickly, it made it hurt more. I just counted breaths, breathing in and out slowly until I regained some sensibility. Silver helped me sit up, but I was still on the ground. He didn't let me stand, just held me, glaring at Ari. I glared too.

"Word of advice," Ari said looking at me coldly. "Don't disobey me." I was still clutching my chest, Silver's arm secure around my shoulders.

"I'm fine," I whispered to him, trying to stand. He let go hesitantly and I sat back next to Rosa who was looking at me horrified. Slick was next to her looking at me as if he was confused, but I could see the horrified expression in his eyes. I just nodded to them and turned to Ari.

"We will be dropping you off in Albuquerque International. Thirteen, you will check in at the Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe."

"What no Five Star Hotel, no Hilton?" I spat sarcastically. "I'm disappointed Ari," I said. He ignored me, but I could see the vein pulsing from his forehead.

"You will check in under the name Kayla Reynolds."I raised an eyebrow, no way was I going enter under that name; I was going to enter under whatever name I felt like. Ari went on for about another hour of instructions, all of them memorized in Slick's head, I knew, he was the mastermind.

Finally, we were on a private jet. Not as swanky as the movies, but it was better than my room. I sat in the back, a dark corner. I was not in the mood to be social. Honestly, I am never in the socializing mood. Slick and Rosa played cards and drank soda – a delicacy to us mutants. Thankfully Ari stayed behind, but David was with us.

I'd grown up with David, but I didn't trust him, everyone else did, I didn't. Apparently I was just way more messed up than everyone else. David was average height, stocky, balding with red hair. He seemed completely normal, except for the fact that he had premonitions – could see the future, if you didn't know.

He was nice enough, but he had this odd thing in his eye where I didn't trust him. But that's just me, paranoid experiment with temper problems and too much muscle. I'm honestly surprised I wasn't labeled a Dreg after a few years, I never tried very hard and I couldn't do much special, except handle a sword and any other weapons.

Silver sat next to Rosa, pawing through a thick looking book. I leaned back in my chair, pulled up my legs, threw my arms around them and curled into a ball, hiding away from the world. My arm wasn't getting any better and it was actually bugging the crap out of me.

We landed in New Mexico after about four hours. I was last off the jet, not wanting to walk out and hunt down one of my own, better yet my little sister. Yea, you didn't know that? Rue was my baby sister. She looked nothing like me or Caleb though. She was a dark brunette with dark blue eyes. She's short and very talented; she could be the small, cute Rue one second and huge mountain lion the next, and then a tea cup. She was one of a kind, I guess it kind of ran in the family and skipped me. No one else could create illusions like Caleb and no one could even come close to Rue, but there were others like me, not even enhanced humans, but they could do what I do.

So, yep, now that _that's _out in the open, I'm very opposed to hunting down Rue, which is exactly why there is a plan in my head hatching. I will never hurt Rue, nor will I ever let anyone get a shot at it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

"Kayla Reynolds." I told the elderly woman who stood behind the counter. "R-E-Y-N-O-L-D-S."She typed the name slowly into the computer. I had asked for a room with two queen-sized beds since I was traveling with my brother (that's the story we will tell people who we have to talk to).

"Okay, hun, here you are." She handed me my room key.

"Thanks," I said, turning and walking out of the small building. There were ten other small buildings lined in a square. "Building ten," I said to the shadows that were hiding. Silver was beside me, Slick and Rosa behind us.

Cars were parked in front of each building, some having more than others. Building ten had exactly two cars parked. It was late evening – almost ten – and I was incredibly tired. "Room number?" Silver asked.

"213."

Silver snickers and I glanced up at him out of the corner of my eye. "Rosa's always telling me that you and I should get a room, guess her wish is our command once again." I just rolled my eyes and walked faster.

Unlocking the door I moaned. The room looked awful. The bed smelt as if it had been used for more than sleep, the room smelt of cheap cologne. "It's worse than Branter's room." Rosa said, crinkling her nose in disgust.

"Well maybe you should have battered your eyes at Ari a little more." I snapped.

"Believe me if she had her eyes would have fallen out." Silver said. Slick snickered and Rosa shot him the bird. I smiled – it was nice to know I wasn't the only one who was aware of Rosa's princess-like traits.

I threw my duffle bag at the end of the bed and collapsed on the bed closest to the door. "What are the sleeping arrangements?" Rosa asked, casting a meaningful look at Silver who wasn't even looking at her.

"I'll sleep with Ace." Silver said.

"I bet you would." Rosa said, crossing her arms. Silver smirked and so did Slick. I just zoned them out and was nearly asleep when I jolted up, fell on the floor, clutching my chest. The electricity ran through me and I almost thought I saw the light. But it was quickly covered by everyone blocking my view.

"Ace! Ace!"

"What the hell?"

"Oh god,"

I almost passed out, but something cold and wet was on my forehead waking me up a little more. "Ace, can you hear me?" It was Silver. As the electricity buzzed through me still I could see something:

_Silver and I walked together. "Branter's getting better." _

_ "Yea, considering he found his ability about a month ago, I'd say so." I said, covering my arms with the light jacket I carried. Wind blew around us and it felt like ice carving my cheeks. "Jesus it's cold." I complained, wrapping the jacket around me. Something ran by. I stopped and looked around. "Did you see that?" I asked Silver._

_ "See what?" He asked, oblivious to what I had felt. _

_ "Never mind." We walked towards are building where we lived. The brick walls looking dim and dark in the moonlight. The electric fence was to our left, buzzing at its impressive height of 200 feet. It felt like a prison but really it didn't feel like it. I was 13, powerful and sure about my life. _

_ As we walked closer to the building I stepped on something and heard a tiny whimper. "Jeez Ace," I looked down and saw the step of a pretty, small, flower change into the sun-browned legs. "I mean can't a girl relax and move with the breeze in peace?"_

_ "Sorry Rue." I said smiling. She came back into full form then, her brown curls pulling into a pony tail and her blue eyes bright. _

_ "It's okay." _

_ "What were you doin' out here anyways?" Silver asked looking at Rue oddly. _

_ "Just thinkin'," Rue said quickly not looking at Silver. _

_ "You headed in soon? It's getting late." I said – my motherly side coming out. _

_ "Yea, I'll be in in a bit." We waved to her as she skipped off in the other direction. _

_ "You know –"Silver never finished what he was going to say. I saw that gleam of blonde hair as he jumped, only inches away from the electric, tall fence. _

_ "NO!" I screamed. The gunshot went off behind me and I stumbled backwards from the loud sound and when I saw the bullet hit Caleb I thought I'd lost my balance. _

_ "Back 13," That thick, cold blooded monster – also known as Ari – said as I moved forward to Caleb's aid. The familiar, wolfish grin he wore on his face made me almost believe he was still alive. Everything went black._

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on a funky smelling bed , the covers still under me and a thin pillow on the floor. In the other bed beside mine was Rosa and Slick, snoring soundly, almost in unison.

I couldn't see Silver; he was probably outside like he usually is, in his thinking state of mind. I was sore all over when I tried to sit up or even breathe in deeply. My arms and legs felt like they were made of led and my head felt like it was going to crack open. I quickly rushed out the door, hoping the crisp air might help things.

Silver was outside, sitting on the little ledge, leaning against a column that went from the thick fence and up to the roof. I rushed to the ledge, and hung my head over breathing in the cool night air.

"How you feeling?" Silver asked looking at me intently.

"You really want an answer?"I asked, looking at him unsure.

"Maybe just a gist,"

"Like crap."

Silver nodded. "Rosa could hear the thoughts of the guy who was controlling your tracking device."

"And," I asked, already knowing Ari had put him up to it.

"Ari just messing with your body and mind,"

"Figured as much,"

We were silent as I breathed in deeply, the headache gradually going away, my body still sore but more awake and feeling somewhat lighter. As my body started to gradually feel better something else dawned on me, and it made my body, no my heart hurt more.

Rue.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Silver asked


End file.
